Brownell calls the Thorntons

Though he was released from his national letter of intent following Oliver Purnell's move to DePaul, Marcus Thornton is still keeping Clemson an option.

CUTigers recently received an e-mail from Billy Thornton, Marcus' father, regarding their communication with Brownell.

"Marcus and I talked to Coach Brownell on Wednesday night. He had called late Tuesday night but we missed his call. We had a good conversation. He really just wanted to introduce himself and to tell us that he is very interested in Marcus still coming to Clemson and that he did not plan on rushing us.

"Coach Brownell is very personable and seems like a great guy. We didn't talk about any of the tough stuff because we want to do that face to face. Coach plans to come to Atlanta to visit us, most likely Monday evening. "

Thornton said the family has been "overwhelmed" during the previous weeks since the change at Clemson.